Found and Lost
by Testing123456
Summary: You can't blame me for hoping things could go smoothly for once in my life. . . Okay, fine, yes you can.
1. Chapter 1

I walked out of the pavilion and stretched. Dinner had been good today, and the lighthearted, carefree atmosphere didn't hurt either. For the first time in years, it felt like I could let my guard down. I'm not sure why. It could be from knowing that I wouldn't be randomly attacked by a hungry monster or spontaneously engaged in a life-or-death battle – or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason, it was a good feeling.

"Hey, Wise Girl," a familiar voice surprised me.

I didn't let the surprise show: "Hey, Seaweed Brain," I responded casually.

"Something on your mind?"

I responded truthfully, "No, I'm just glad that everything is so calm – it feels almost unnatural. You know what I mean?"

He nodded, smiling. "You know, it's gonna be great having three weeks all to ourselves. No big quests, no monsters, just –"

He paused and blushed nervously, which was so unlike him (or maybe it was just so cute), that I decided to cut him some slack and help him out. "Just you and me." I finished. He didn't respond for a second, and I flushed, afraid I might've said something out of place. But then he nodded, meeting my eye confidently. Suddenly it was my turn to blush.

"The campfire's starting. We should get up there." Percy stated.

"Yeah." I grinned and took off. "Race you there!"

I ran, not looking back. "Hey, wait up! That's a false start!" He called, chasing after me. I laughed lightly, not knowing that I'd be the one chasing after _him_ in the very near future.

I almost won - the keyword being _almost_. Of course, I didn't give him the satisfaction of winning either. We pulled up side by side, panting lightly and laughing hysterically for no reason at all. When we finally stopped, he smirked cockily. "Losing your edge, eh, Annabeth?"

I raised an eyebrow and looked him over discretely, soaking him in as the sun dropped on the horizon. He had become distinctly taller than me, and his features had become more defined and handsome over the short time we'd been apart. As shadows flitted over his face, I marveled at how well his dark hair complemented his calm, sea-green eyes, and the lean, muscular look he'd gotten from all his training at the camp over the last few years. In the short time he'd been here, he'd changed a lot for the better, both in himself and in the people around him. But at heart, he was still the same kind, heroic, reckless guy he was back then. I liked it best that way.

"No way, Seaweed Brain. You've just gotten a little faster, that's all." I conceded generously.

He grinned and held his hand out, and I felt my stomach flutter a little as I twined my hand with his. Who knew Percy, of all people, could be romantic? We took the amphitheater steps together, making our way to the fire pit, which was blazing with rich, gold flames. Apparently the other campers shared our carefree, laid back feelings. After taking our seats, myself at the far left of the first row of my cabin mates, and Percy directly to my left (he was a one-man cabin, so he could choose where to sit), Chiron gave some basic housekeeping announcements, leaving off by ordering everyone to enjoy themselves. As the jollier campers struck up a ludicrous song, he walked – um – trotted over to us, handing Percy the bag of marshmallows and gesturing for him to pass it to his right.

"It's remarkably calm, eh?" Chiron asked, looking around sagely. Percy and I glanced at Chiron, then at each other. We'd both known Chiron for a long time, and his question didn't seem very innocent, almost like there was some hidden meaning. Maybe things were going a little _too_ well for Chiron's taste, but Percy just shrugged.

"Yeah, everyone's having a great time. And I think we deserve it, too."

I grabbed a marshmallow and passed the bag to Malcolm, who was busy singing about the spoils of some war or another. "I agree." I hesitated, wondering whether a little humor could get me killed. Oh, what the heck. "Especially since Mr. D's gone." Chiron visibly relaxed as Percy chuckled. Percy then nudged me, and I caught the drift. We both joined in as a new song started, and I think Chiron sang a little too.

It took a while, but finally, as our throats got parched from singing and our eyelids started drooping, the fire slowly died down in size (although the color remained the same), bidding us good night. Campers took the cue, slowly filing out in pairs or groups. The last to leave was the entire Aphrodite cabin, herded amidst protests by their tyrannical leader, Drew. I made a mental note to talk to her about how she treated her cabin mates.

Percy stood up and stretched, yawning. "Well, I think it's time to turn in." he looked at me silently, and I got up, standing nose to nose with him. He shifted his weight from his right to his left leg, though he didn't look uncomfortable. In the dim light coming from the fire pit, he suddenly looked awfully appealing.

"Goodnight," I said uncertainly, shifting my weight from my right leg to my left leg. I didn't move though. I was waiting for something, although I wasn't quite sure what. He suddenly smiled and stepped in, closing the gap between our faces, pressing his lips to mine.

Everything else disappeared: the amphitheater, the fire, Chiron. It was just him and me. His hands gripped my waist gently, and my hands, without instruction, made their way into his lush, black hair, clutching it. Of the three intimate moments we'd shared like this, this one was the best by far.

Before I go on, let's get something straight. Percy _looks_ like a perfectly normal (albeit handsome) teenage guy who dodders around and is totally aloof to romance. Only if you got to know him, then you'd realize he was the greatest swordsman of the century and a super-powerful demigod who'd saved the world more than once. In much the same way, it took me until the first time we kissed to realize that Percy is a drop-dead _fantastic_ kisser. I'm not even joking. I know that he's never had a girlfriend before me, but it's like he's done it a thousand times and perfected his technique to the point where, just, _wow_.

So you can't blame me when I pretty much dropped to my knees (figuratively) and started moaning into his lips. You can't blame me when it got the point where I was at his feet, begging for entrance into his mouth with my tongue. And as a response to my heartfelt, passionate advance he did the cruelest thing – he pulled away. Then, while I was dumbfounded and aching for his touch, he leaned forward, put his mouth to my ear and whispered: "Goodnight, Wise Girl," before walking away like nothing had happened. When I finally stopped licking my lips and lifted out of my stupor, his brutal, torturous ways finally dawned on me. It took all my willpower and the fact that Chiron was watching me to stop myself from screaming curses and death threats after him.

Chiron pulled up next to me, and at first I thought he was going to make fun of me. But he just smiled gently and wished me goodnight, before going off to the Big House. I sighed and trudged back to my cabin, making sure everyone was accounted for before turning off the lights. I let any residual stress wash away as I leaned back onto my bunk, and I felt strangely at peace, as opposed to the turmoil that usually plagued my mind after a long day. I rolled my eyes at myself, knowing it was probably some placebo effect of my sappy, romantic self that was saying: _See, true love's kiss makes everything better!_

But as I nodded off, I couldn't help but wonder whether Percy would make this "goodnight kiss" thing a habit. I wouldn't mind, I guess. . . 


	2. Chapter 2

My mother never approved of my relationship with Percy, mainly for her rivalry with his father, Poseidon. But if she was peeved about our friendship, she would blast me to pieces for the dreams I had last night. As I got off of my bunk, I could still feel the heat coming off of my face even in the chill of winter. It's a shame Aphrodite was born from sea foam, or I would blame it all on the fact that I was related to her.

"G'morning, Annabeth," Malcolm said from behind me, standing from his bunk and yawning. I finished making my bunk and turned to him.

"Good morning, Malcolm. You're up as early as usual." It was funny how things worked in our cabin. Everyone got up by seniority. It was always me first, then Malcolm, then the next oldest, like that. It was really weird to watch, but also cool in a way. Just like every other part of my abnormal life.

I walked over to the calendar and marked Tuesday off, making a mental list of what would have to be done today. Not much, it seemed. Wednesday was a pretty routine day for us.

On the mark of the conch, I threw the door to the cabin open and lead the way to the pavilion. Chiron was already present, with satyrs, nymphs, and dryads milling around him. We shared a smile before I took my seat at the head of my table. Of course, the Athena cabin was always the first to arrive. Perfect planning and execution was our forte. The Hermes cabin always came in just after us, not because they planned to be early, but because they were always eager to eat. After that the cabins started arriving in no specific order, though you could usually count on the Aphrodite cabin rushing in last, struggling to finish their make-up in time.

Sure enough, Chiron stamped his foot and called order just as the last Aphrodite girl took her seat, shoving her comb into her pocket hastily. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly hesitated. It was only a moment, and he quickly recovered, but I knew Chiron better than anyone. As he spoke, I followed the line of sight he had held while pausing, and I was startled.

You see, the reason I said the Aphrodite cabin was _usually_ last rather than _always_ last was because half of the time the Poseidon cabin would run in right after them, groggy and disheveled. . . . Okay, fine, I'm being delicate. Rather, _my boyfriend_ _Percy Jackson_, the one constituent of the Poseidon cabin, would stumble in here hastily just before Chiron opened his mouth to give the announcements. I know - it's embarrassing, really.

But today, there was no sign of him at all. The Poseidon table's population had dropped 100%, from one camper to zero. That was weird. I mean, not the usual, ubiquitous weird. This was an unusual weird. Chiron finished talking, letting the campers begin the pre-meal sacrifices. I managed to catch his gaze for a second, and it was unreadable, which was also abnormally weird. I was about to stand up and walk over to him, but I stopped myself. I was overanalyzing the situation. Chiron was probably just tired from sitting up reading last night. Percy was probably just sleeping in, dreaming about me, his wonderful girlfriend. I smiled at that last thought and got up, leading my cabin to the sacrificial flame. As I scraped part of my muffin off the plate, I simply thought: _Please Mom, can we have some peace and quiet for once?_

Never again would I offer a blueberry muffin as a sacrifice to Athena.

Halfway through breakfast, things started to run amuck. It began with Malcolm nudging me out of one of my daydreams, giving me that teasing oh-you're-thinking-about-Percy-aren't-you look, and turning slyly to look towards said boyfriend. When he didn't see Percy:

"Hey, where's Percy?" He said a little louder than intended.

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads towards the Poseidon table, and were met with empty benches and a cold, foreboding table.

"He's probably just sleeping in." I offered uneasily.

Everyone looked at me and cracked smiles, about to turn back to their meals undisturbed. That almost tricked me into believing myself. The keyword being _almost_.

"No." A boy I remembered as Clovis, son of Morpheus, suddenly spoke up. "Whatever Percy's doing right now, he's not sleeping. I would know." Then, as if to illustrate the validity of his claim, he promptly fell asleep.

The pavilion burst into some type of quiet uproar, characterized by loud whispers and uneasy faces. It took all of Chiron's hoof-power to bring it back to order. When the pavilion finally dissolved into nervous silence, Chiron coolly instructed everyone to return to their meals and be quiet. Then he trotted out of the pavilion, gesturing for me to follow. I felt sixty pairs of eyes on me as I walked out stiffly.

They have a saying among regular mortals that "no news is good news." And just like every other mortal law, it was absolutely inapplicable to my life. As I walked by Chiron's side towards the lake, the silence between us screamed "this is not good at all!" Chiron's steady hoof beats acted as a sort of pacemaker, the only thing keeping my heart in my chest and my feet from sprinting towards Percy's cabin.

As we passed by the lake and the "U" of cabins came into sight, I almost couldn't keep myself under control. Percy always told me that I was a master at keeping my ADHD at bay, but I suppose there's even a limit to what _I_ can do.

"Be calm, my child," said Chiron suddenly, as if on cue, but for once his words didn't soothe me.

"What do you think happened?" I asked shakily.

Chiron hesitated before opening his mouth to speak, just as he had in the pavilion. But I met his eyes, pleading for nothing but the truth from him. Another moment of hesitation, and his mouth closed. Chiron didn't know.

I was afraid of that.

As the seashell-studded walls of Cabin Three appeared within fifty feet of us, I imagined that Percy would come running out, wildly pulling on his clothes while apologizing for his lateness so I could slap him for worrying me. At twenty feet away, with the salty scent of Poseidon's cabin, which had come to double as Percy's deodorant, teasing my nose, I hoped against all hope that Percy would jump out from inside yelling "Surprise, Wise Girl!" so I could settle for the security of his presence through a warm hug. But as Chiron and I came to a stop in front of the cabin of the mighty earth shaker, creator of the horse and lord of the seas, I realized that Pandora probably had no business lending the only thing she had left to the offspring of the woman who'd set her up to have everything else taken away.

You know, there is such a thing as being too smart for your own good.

Before my hand was even through pushing the door to the cabin fully open, tears had found their way out of my eyes and down my face, and Chiron's hand was holding my shoulder.

I was always one for fact and evidence, but, for some cursed reason, call it sixth sense or the compass of love or whatever you want, I knew the fact before my eyes could take in the interior of the cabin:

Percy Jackson, the greatest hero of all time, the hero who lead Camp Half-Blood, the hero who was invulnerable, the hero who had saved the Gods themselves, the hero who just prevented World War III, the hero who stood for everything good in the world, was gone.

_My hero_ was gone.


End file.
